An anonymous bettor made a surprising profit on a cryptocurrency platform, shortly before the announcement of the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
A bet of around 27 euros on a cryptocurrency platform generated a return of 372 thousand euros to a bettor who remains anonymous, .
Bets on Polymarket (a platform that uses cryptocurrencies) on Nicolás Maduro’s departure from power by the end of January increased in the hours before Donald Trump’s announcement that the Venezuelan President had been captured.
An account created on the platform last month opened four positions, all related to Venezuela, and made a profit of 436 thousand dollars, around 372 thousand euros, with a bet of just 32,537 dollars (27.79 euros).
Dennis Kelleher, chief executive of Better Markets, told CBS that “this particular bet has all the hallmarks of an insider bet.”
The bettor’s identity remains anonymous, as the account is associated with a blockchain identifier with only letters and numbers.
According to data from Polymarket, on Friday afternoon, one day before the North American intervention, investors attributed only a 6.5% probability to the .
However, this number rose to 11% shortly before midnight and skyrocketed in the early hours of the day Maduro was detained.
A small group of other Polymarket users also made tens of thousands of dollars betting on the capture of the Venezuelan leader.
